Archive for the 'Opinion' Category

The HTA has released a promotion clip to be shown to Form 2 students before deciding what subjects to take at Form 3. The clip explains the syllabus of the History SEC and what careers can be taken up at a later stage when choosing History.

During the “PlayStation Meeting 2011″ which was held earlier today in Japan, Sony have unveiled their new, upcoming portable device (which as you can see in the photo below looks very similar to the PlayStation Portable), which will be temporarily known as NGP (Next-Generation Portable).

Next Generation Portable

Slotted for a Christmas 2011 release, this little ‘monster’ boasts some very high-end specifications, including:

It seems that Sony have not cut any corners for this new system, not just as regards the processor and the GPU used, but also for the fact that they are pushing social gaming through the in-built 3G and WiFi connections. The built-in GPS combined with the fact that the NGP is always online (via 3G/WiFi) should provide opportunities for interesting programs and not just entertainment applications.

On a finishing note, considering what this machine has crammed into it, one cannot expect this device to be cheap, and I would be surprised if the retail price is anywhere lower than the €500 mark. On the other hand, the new, soon to be released Nintendo 3DS costs €270 – one wonders if the ‘raw power’ and wide range of features that come with the Next Generation Portable will be enough to win Sony a substantial market share.

Graphics software come in two flavours, bitmap or vector. The most popular commercial bitmap software is Adobe’s Photoshop with Gimp coming close on its heels as an open source alternative. For many years, Freehand was the only vector drawing program to be an industry standard, until Adobe bought Macromedia, the company behind it. Eventually Adobe killed off Freehand as it already had a similar software, Illustrator.

Two days ago, Steve Jobs, CEO at Apple has unveiled the company’s latest gadget, called iPad. At first glance it looks like a very shiny, keyboardless computer, easy to use and needless to say, ultimately desirable. Measuring at 9.7 inches, the screen uses LED technology and is sensitive to multitouch allowing the user to pinch and stretch to zoom in and out when viewing photographs. The iPad also features an accelerometer meaning that is sensitive to tilting – the screen rotates automatically whenever it is turned around. In Apple’s own words “there is no right way to hold it”.